


Straight for the Castle

by Romansleftshoulderpad



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Background Character Death, Deceit Sanders Has a Different Name, Fellas is it gay to commit regicide with your homie? Let's discuss, M/M, Magic AU, Regicide, Royalty AU, Song Lyrics, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, War Mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22151587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romansleftshoulderpad/pseuds/Romansleftshoulderpad
Summary: Sixteen years ago, the kingdom was destroyed and the royal family was killed. Now, Remus wants his throne back. Now, Remus wants revenge.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	Straight for the Castle

**Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise**

The war had been a brutal one. The royal family had been brutally attacked and beaten as soldiers from a rival burned down the city. Their armies fought back but no one could have prepared for this sudden of an invasion- especially not one this size. Not on Christmas day. 

“Over here,” Virgil, the prince’s personal guard yelled as he helped the twin boys from their room. They were just two months shy of their 14th birthday. They were terrified. “I know a secret passageway,” Virgil said. “Be brave little princes for me, won’t you?”

Roman might’ve cried, though Remus can hardly remember anything but the flames throughout the city and the sudden screams from down the hall where he would later spot the king and queen laying side by side in a pool of the very blood that ran through him and his brother. 

They snuck through a tunnel in the walls, breathing in the dank and musty air and choking on cobwebs. Virgil wore a scarf that covered his nose and mouth. He was immune to the choking and coughing that plagued both princes.

Remus doesn’t think about the tunnel. He doesn’t think about his parents or his little sister that was taken. He doesn’t wonder if she’s still alive. He doesn’t think about the smoke in the air or the blood and ash that covered the city streets as they escaped.

But he does remember Virgil yelling “RUN” and the two boys splitting up. He turned his head and saw soldiers grabbing Virgil. He struggled as they threw him into a prison cart. He saw Roman running into the burning city as he ran into the woods. 

He saw Roman running into the city. He saw Roman running. He saw Roman.

After that night, Remus never saw his brother again. 

Both princes kept running. 

Remus doesn’t know what happened to Roman. Some days he wonders if knowing is worth being hurt all over again. Remus kept running. He kept running. He kept running.

Remus kept running.

**Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised.**

Remus lived in the woods for years. He kept living. He kept running. He never looked back over his shoulder ever again, for he knew that all that laid back there was blood, ash, and smoke. 

He found himself far beyond the edge of the capital after five years. He was outside of the kingdom after ten. Then again after fifteen. The kingdom that had taken over just kept growing. The more Remus ran the more his past stalked him like a hunter.

Remus remembered the flames. He refused to be prey ever again. 

**Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it**

It was a year later when he met Ethan, a man shrouded in mystery who had been designated too hazardous and chancy to be part of any real civilization. When he found a feral man lost in the woods, he only had a few questions, none of which involved his past. 

The two moved in together, in a small cabin Ethan had either built or stolen. His story changed every time. 

But perhaps that’s what initially drew Remus to Ethan was that they were both outsiders. They had no family so they found a family in each other. 

But what _really_ convinced Remus to stick around was how Ethan was unhesitatingly down with regicide.

**Already choking on my pride, so there’s no use crying about it**

“Ethan,” Remus said, through a sip of coffee. His hands were shaking against the porcelain and he was afraid it might break. “There’s something I need to tell you. A-About my past. About why I’m here.”

“Remus, I thought we agreed that’s not necc-”

“No, I- I want to tell you. I _need_ to tell you.” He put his cup down and met Ethan’s eyes. “Because I need you to help me get revenge.”

**I’m heading straight for the castle**

“Prince?” Ethan asked. “No, they- they killed the entire royal family.”

“Not me. Not Roman.”

“How did you-?”

“I ran. I snuck out of the castle and I ran. For so long I ran un- until I met you.” Remus could feel his heart beating against his throat. “Because of you, I stopped having to run. And _with_ you, I’ll never have to run ever again.”

“You’re asking quite a lot from me, Remus.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think we had a fighting chance.”

Ethan took a deep breath. He slid out from his chair and kneeled on the floor in front of Remus. He looked up with a dastardly grin. “Anything for you, your royal highness.”

**They’re gonna make me their queen**

“Alright, if we’re going to do this, we need to make sure it can work.” He dumped a handful of maps and scrolls onto the table. “I know that castle like the back of my hand.”

“And?” Ethan asked.

“And I know the tunnels too.”

“Perfect.”

**And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean.**

“We leave at midnight. In a week’s time, we take back the throne.”

**Oh, all of these minutes passing, sick of feeling used.**

Ethan could still remember the day he got kicked out.

And the day he finally ran away.

**If you wanna break these walls down, you’re gonna get bruised.**

He hid the scars on his face. He hid his magic, vowing never to use it again. After how his powers- how _he_ \- had been exploited, how could he? His parents had disowned him for being too powerful. He ran away from the puppeteer for being too weak.

He wouldn’t be a puppet. 

He wouldn’t be used for a show or for pulling rabbits out of a hat. 

He swore off human contact. He found a dead man’s retirement home and he buried the body. He taught himself to fish and caught all his meals from that point on. Eventually, he’d also learn how to hunt deeper in the woods. 

But then he met Remus. And his promise of spending forever alone seeped through his grip like grains of sand. 

It wasn’t instantaneous, of course, Ethan had to know he was trustworthy. Remus was practically feral, one with nature in far too many ways. But he had spent his whole life running. That was something Ethan could respect. That was something Ethan could understand. 

**Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it.**  
**Already choking on my pride, so there’s no use crying about it.**

The two of them had found- well, stolen- a wagon from the nearby city. However, it had no horse to pull it, and a horse is a much harder thing to steal. Ethan took a deep breath as he broke one more vow, all in Remus’s name. 

“Since you’ve told me something about your past, your highness, I think it’s only fair I do the same.”

“Ethan, you don’t have to-”

He pressed his hands against the wood. He concentrated, feeling the energy flow through his skin. He hadn’t used magic in so long the feeling was almost foreign. His skin was buzzing and tingling. The cart began to move forward and Ethan promptly fell back, his head hitting the seat.

“Ethan!” Remus yelled, reaching out for him.

Ethan weakly raised his hand, waving it dismissively. “I’ll be fine.” His eyes slipped closed. “I’m just... a little tired.” As he drifted off to sleep, the magic continued pushing them forward. Remus pulled Ethan close, letting the magician’s head fall on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around him like a blanket. He would stay awake, watchful and protecting, in case anyone tried to come in between them. He would protect Ethan with his life before taking the unlawful king’s.

I’m headed straight for the castle. They’ve got the kingdom locked up.

They found themselves taking shifts, one sleeping while the other watched for any potential threats. They had both said it was for protection but to say there was nothing more would be to go back on their new promise to be open with each other. 

Remus was sound asleep, tucked under Ethan’s arm when they approached the edge of the kingdom. Ethan ran his fingers through Remus’s hair, shaking him lightly. “Look,” he whispered, “revenge is in your grasp, your highness.”

“Our grasp,” Remus corrected, slowly opening his eyes. “We’re in this together, remember?”

Ethan blushed and tried to keep a straight face. “Of course, your highness. Together.”

“You don’t have to call me ‘your highness’ you know. I haven’t been a prince in sixteen years.”

“On the contrary, your highness, I don’t think I can stop.”

Remus laughed and pressed a kiss to Ethan’s face, his lips brushing against the scar that connected the corner of his mouth to his cheekbone. “You old sap.”

Ethan’s blush grew and he turned to face Remus, his eyes wide with shock. Their noses brushed and he felt he might faint. His eyes fell towards Remus’s mouth and his heart trembled with fear and excitement. In a life of solitude and confinement, was this what it felt like to fall in love?

“We’re one step closer to victory.”

“One step closer to your reign.” Ethan swallowed his heart. “Your highness.”

And there’s an old man sitting on a throne that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut

Flags hung in the city. Thousands of flags celebrating the king that had destroyed Remus’s life. Destroyed his family and burnt citizens into the soil that was merely swept off of the ground. 

He kept his eyes on the prize.

**Straight for the castle**

He jumped off the wagon as Ethan withdrew his magic from it. “Hey,” Ethan whispered, touching his shoulder lightly. His touch was full of magic, it felt like static electricity against his skin. “Are you okay?”

**There’s no use crying about it**

“I’m fine,” Remus lied. 

**There’s no use crying about it**

The screams and fire cackling echoed through his mind. The heat resurfaced to his face and the tears of fallen children threatened to fall from his eyes. 

**There’s no use crying about it**

“Let’s go, Ethan.”

**There’s no use crying about it**

They marched onwards

**I’m heading straight for the castle**

It was surprisingly easy to get to the back of the castle’s property, just west of the gardens. Remus tried to remember, he shut his eyes tight and, for the first time in years, let himself think about his brother and his parents. He thought about Virgil and his little sister. He pressed his fingertips against the brick and tugged at one of them, opening a small hole in the wall. 

“Come on,” he whispered. 

“You’re crying.”

“We’re getting revenge.” 

They trekked forward. Ethan quietly looped their fingertips, holding on tight to Remus’s hand. They stopped and he heard Remus take a sharp breath. It was so dark they could hardly see a thing. “It’s okay to be upset. I can’t pretend I know what it was like that night, but I can be here for you now. And- And if this is the last time we see each other again, I have to say I-”

“Don’t.”

Ethan blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“Don’t say it, don’t think it,” Remus said. “If I- If I think of you like _that_ \- Ethan, I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t. I promise you won’t.”

**They wanna make me their queen**

They snuck into the old princes’ bedroom through an entrance behind the kingdom’s flag. It had been only touched by time. Remus reached out for an old teddy bear that had been laying on the ground. His button eyes were nearly fallen off and his cardboard crown had been destroyed. “This was Roman’s,” he explained. “He could never fall asleep without him.”

“I’m sure you’re brother is still out there. Maybe once you reclaim the throne, he’ll come back.”

Remus looked up at him, his cheeks flush red with the ghosts of tears still staining his skin. He _had_ been crying in the tunnel. “I hope he doesn’t, deep down. I hope he’s out there, not thinking about this horrible night. He saw much more of it than I did.”

“Let’s go make sure no one ever sees a night like that ever again.”

**And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean.**  
**I’m heading straight for the castle.**

Remus unsheathed his dagger and the two snuck out of the bedroom. They had made it maybe ten feet out before stumbling upon nearly thirty armed guards. “HALT!” they yelled charging towards them. 

“Get behind me!” Ethan yelled, sending a powerful blast of magic in front of him. Every guard shot back, most of them injured and a few dead. Ethan stole their weapons and marched onwards. 

“You didn’t tell me you could do _that,_ ” Remus said.

Ethan turned around, his eyes were glowing white and a new scar sat across the bridge of his nose. “There’s a lot of things I haven’t told you.”

“Can I tell you that I am _very_ turned on right now?”

Ethan laughed and turned back to the mission. “Maybe later.”

**They’ve got the kingdom locked up**  
**And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut.**

As they approached the throne room, Remus returned his dagger to its sheath, instructing Ethan to hide his weapons in whatever way he could. The guards inside pointed their spears and swords at them, but they didn’t seem to know about the dead guards only a few rooms away. 

“We wish no harm,” Remus lied. “Only a council with His Majesty.”

The king looked upon them. His crown hid a balding head and his beard hid the wrinkled face of a murderer. Remus’s blood boiled, calming only when he felt Ethan’s hand on his back. He had to remember why they were here. He bowed. “Your Majesty, I am Prince Remus. You killed my entire family and half of our capital when you took this kingdom.”

Ethan set off another blast of magic to his sides, knocking out several guards but nowhere near enough. A scar went through his right eye. He handed a sword to Remus and they fought off the guards in a blur of metal and blood. Somehow (probably through Ethan’s magic) both of them were able to get through unscathed. Ethan sent one last bear of magic, just enough to hold the king down to his throne, and collapsed on the ground. 

Remus walked up to the struggling king, slowly and deliberately. He took his dagger and held it to the light. “A beautiful thing, isn’t it? I got it from my father. You remember him, right? He was sitting on this very throne when you took the blood from his veins and the life from his eyes.” He leaned over the king, their faces merely inches apart as he whispered, “which is _exactly_ what I’m going to do to you.”

“You’ll go to Hell for this!” The king yelled. 

Remus drove his dagger through the king’s chest, stepping away from the blood to avoid staining his clothes. “Then I’ll see you there, where I shall destroy you again and again and again until you know even a /smidgen/ of the agony I have been faced with for _sixteen years."_ He took the crown off of the king’s head as he let out his last breath. Placing the crown upon his head, Remus proclaimed, “Long live the king.”

**Straight for the castle.**  
**They’re gonna make me their queen.**  
**And there’s an old man sitting on the throne that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean.**

Remus took the throne with Ethan by his side. They had a wedding shortly thereafter which Remus had claimed was to officially split their power, but their affection behind closed doors said otherwise. 

Ethan hadn’t used any powerful magic since they took the throne, as it had caused him to go blind in one eye and he feared losing anything else. But Remus would kiss his scars and tell him how much he adored his “brave little magician.” 

It was the night after Ethan’s crowing when he pressed his head against Remus’s and smoothed out his husband’s coat. “Now will you kiss me properly?”

“As you wish, your highness.”

“You know, you really don’t need to call me that.”

Remus hummed and wrapped his arms around Ethan’s neck. “On the contrary, your highness, I don’t think I can stop.” He leaned in and pressed their lips together. He could feel Ethan’s heart racing against his own. It was so soft and simple and Remus smiled into it. He could show Ethan magic, those powerful sparks that brought them here now against his lips. He could show him over a decade fighting against the wilderness. He could break him apart. 

But Remus stayed soft and gentle. He pressed his hand against Ethan’s heart time and time again. After all they had fought for, being gentle was what they needed. Together. 

**I'm headed straight for the castle**  
**They've got the kingdom locked up**  
**And there's an old man sitting on the throne**  
**that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut**

They say upon their thrones, equal in size and power, and interlocked their fingers as they watched the sunrise over the kingdom they would rebuild and restore. 

**Straight for the castle**


End file.
